I don't know why this shocks people, The Tigers have a great team. They have a deep rotation which above average 2, 3 and 4 SP. The White Sox also are above average at the 2-3-4 spots. The Sox have a good bullpen, the Tigers do not. The Tigers have a great lineup, the Sox do not. The Tigers have an average defense, the White Sox are above average in most of the key spots.

The Tigers are built, if they perform, to win 100 or more games. The White Sox are built to win 85 and hope things go right.

As we found out last year, sometimes that works and sometimes it does not. Still have to play the year out.

I've been reading on these boards (and been party to some of it), people complaining that the Sox were about to drive off a talent cliff and head to 100-loss abyss. Maybe that will happen. Maybe it will not. But I do know they will have $33 million in payroll coming off the books following 2013 and potentially another $42 million coming off after 2014. That's a lot of payroll flexibility for a guy who was a consensus top GM prospect to work with to start his tenure. So I'm not going to worry too hard about things.

Yeah but who's our core? Even if Sale's arm doesn't explode, after this year we've got very little to build around. People keep pointing at guys like Dayan and Flowers, but that's just absurd. There's not one scout right now that thinks either of those guys is going to be a star (and in Dayan's case, there never was one outside of the White Sox organization). What happens if we DO go out and lose 100 games. Or even 90 games. What young stars are we going to sign with a record like that? What young stars are we going to trade for with a bereft minor league system? Things could get bleak in a heartbeat. I don't want to go back to being horrible every year.

I don't know why this shocks people, The Tigers have a great team. They have a deep rotation which above average 2, 3 and 4 SP. The White Sox also are above average at the 2-3-4 spots. The Sox have a good bullpen, the Tigers do not. The Tigers have a great lineup, the Sox do not. The Tigers have an average defense, the White Sox are above average in most of the key spots.

The Tigers are built, if they perform, to win 100 or more games. The White Sox are built to win 85 and hope things go right.

As we found out last year, sometimes that works and sometimes it does not. Still have to play the year out.

I would agree with this, except I'm not sure yet we're currently built to win 85 unless everything goes right. Probably high 70's.

I don't know why this shocks people, The Tigers have a great team. They have a deep rotation which above average 2, 3 and 4 SP. The White Sox also are above average at the 2-3-4 spots. The Sox have a good bullpen, the Tigers do not. The Tigers have a great lineup, the Sox do not. The Tigers have an average defense, the White Sox are above average in most of the key spots.

The Tigers are built, if they perform, to win 100 or more games. The White Sox are built to win 85 and hope things go right.

As we found out last year, sometimes that works and sometimes it does not. Still have to play the year out.

This is extremely well stated and grounded. Nobody is contending that on paper the Tigers look to be a lot better than the Sox and everybody else in the division. No one is arguing that they're not a lock to be the preseason favorite to win the Central. We all understand that and are, from what I gather, in agreement with that assessment.

But, as you can see, there's a world of difference between munch's semi-trolling that basically insults anyone who doesn't share his extremely over-the-top worldview and those who have rational thoughts and mature conversations on the topic.

Yeah but who's our core? Even if Sale's arm doesn't explode, after this year we've got very little to build around. People keep pointing at guys like Dayan and Flowers, but that's just absurd. There's not one scout right now that thinks either of those guys is going to be a star (and in Dayan's case, there never was one outside of the White Sox organization). What happens if we DO go out and lose 100 games. Or even 90 games. What young stars are we going to sign with a record like that? What young stars are we going to trade for with a bereft minor league system? Things could get bleak in a heartbeat. I don't want to go back to being horrible every year.

Who the **** points at Dayan and Flowers as potential superstar building blocks? You're arguing against people that simply don't exist, man.